1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to upholstery and, particularly, to a cushioned support for exercise machines, leisure furniture and the like.
2. Background
Typical seats and back rest cushions consist of sewn fabric with a soft stuffing, molded bicycle seats with a sewn fabric covering, polyurethane molded around a rigid support structure for pads on exercise equipment, and plastic-coated fabric (e.g., Naugahyde®) sewn and/or stretched over foam padding and stapled to a rigid wood backing.
Sewn fabric cushions absorb dust and dirt, take the support shape of the rigid surface it is sitting on, and is hard to clean without removing.
Molded bicycle seats are expensive to produce because of the multiple materials involved, typically an outer casing with a gel filler.
Polyurethane molded seats are molded onto and integrated with a rigid support structure. These can be molded into different shapes and support surfaces, but need to be integral with the rigid support in the molding process because the material does not have enough elasticity and memory to stretch over a rigid support structure after the molding process. This makes it expensive to offer color options or replacement seats because the entire seat needs to be changed out and shipping and inventory is more expensive.
Plastic-coated fabric seats are integrated with a rigid support structure. These can be formed into different extruding surface shapes such as a lumbar support by cutting and sewing the plastic-coated fabric around a cut shape in the foam padding, but they cannot take the form of an indent shape because the plastic-coated fabric will “pull straight” over the indent. This makes it expensive to offer color options or replacement seats because the entire seat needs to be changed out and shipping and inventory is more expensive.